Wednesday, May 07, 2014

More Mexicans, an Afghan, my neighbour's art and the perils of green drinks...

I've been up in the City today, meeting Latin Americans, but got back and finished off my next batch of Mexicans. These three companies of grenadiers, fusiliers and light infantry complete (for the moment) the Matamoros regiment. I may give them a more distinctive officer in due course and may also have to bolster their numbers but at present I am happy with a 1:10 ratio, which gives a unit of 32 figures. I may try to get a shot of the whole unit tomorrow, although I may have to go to London again.

The cazadores are slightly different from the other regular Boot Hill troops I have painted in that they have Baker rifles, black belts and green facings. These figures also have shako cords which makes them look very smart (rather smarter than they probably appeared). The cazadores of the Matamoros regiment were the first Mexican troops into the centre of Béxar before the arrival of Santa Anna and his main army to besiege the Alamo.

I also finished off my first of Artizan's new Afghan tribesmen. More of these on the way soon. These 13 figures bring my total for the year to 64; so about 15 a month. Much better than last year!

Talking of painting, while walking through the Royal Exchange today I spotted these two pictures in the trendy art gallery there. The distinctive design is, of course, the Rolling Stones logo which was done, as were these prints, by my next door neighbour, back in the early seventies. He worked for many other music acts, including local Guildford band The Stranglers, designing album covers and tour posters. Sensibly, he kept the copyright and reproduction rights of the famous lips and tongue logo!

Two more splendid visual treats I encountered today were these young ladies persuading me (successfully) to try a cocktail made with a dubious Bolivian drink. Resistance was futile. It was like when I joined a gym in the City because Elle Macpherson happened to be there when I was shown around and she told me membership would be good for me. Needless to say I never saw her there again (the only Australian member I saw regularly was Clive James who was not the same at all). Anyway, I was told once; "never have drinks which are green; bad things will happen".

The St Regis in Washington DC. The bar is at the far end through the arch

This is advice I wish I had followed while staying at the St Regis hotel in Washington DC a few years ago, where they, briefly, had a period where they served absinthe in the bar. If I hadn't had it I wouldn't have got into a rather awkward situation with the mother of a lady friend. It certainly did make her heart grow fonder. To be fair I didn't know who she was but she did know who I was and had already had two glasses of the stuff before I arrived. Tricky. Especially when the daughter turned up.

Absinthe in Montreal

I have since learned not to drink absinthe with anyone unless I know them really, really well. The only other hotel I have been to where they serve it is the InterContinental in Montreal, where I had it with S from Vancouver. Fortunately, she can absorb her alcohol in a rather more robust way than M's mother.

Anyway, Agwa de Bolivia is made from Coca leaves and after three at lunchtime it felt like it. No more green drinks for me! Until the next time.

Your discussion of the painting effort for the Cazadores de Matamoros sparked a thought. You were wondering about how to utilize the Alamo complex that you bought. Why not use some of the buildings individually and have a non-historic skirmish in San Antonio de Bejar proper. Yes, it did not happen but you might speculate about what might have happened if the Mexicans had arrived before the Texicans had complletely pulled out or if Travis had ordered Crocket (or Bowie) to fight a delaying action or ambush. You can use the chapel building for the center of town as well. When I was in San Antonio for the sesqui-centennial celebration some twenty eight years ago I was impressed at the number of churches in town that looked a lot like the Alamo chapel. This would even give you an excuse to paint up some of the dragoon or lancer types from the John Wayne movie.Have fun!Gerardus MagnusA/K/A The Celtic Curmudgeon"Grumpy is good."